Free Republic

In 2003, Bob Dole gave France a “F-” grade for its lack of enthusiasm for the Iraqi war and urged the nation’s removal from the United Nations Security Council. But what’s a few Freedom Fries between friends, oui? Thursday, Dole stood in his Washington law office as one of France’s most prestigious awards – the Legion of Honor – was pinned to his lapel. The former Kansas senator, said French Ambassador to the United States Jean-David Levitte, is “known all over France” and esteemed for his public service. Although Dole suffered his debilitating war wounds in Italy, not in France,...

In a just-completed interview with Fox News' Bill Hemmer, Bob Dole hailed the new Medicare prescription drug benefit as "a great program." It's "great" for low-income people, he explained, because they'll have a very low deductible, and "good" for others. Of course he didn't say how 'great' the program would be for the taxpayer or for future generations saddled with paying for it. Of course Dole isn't alone in this. The program was created with the support of the President and most GOP congressmen. Still, at this stage of his career, it's sad to see Dole flacking for big government....

Edward Cafara who saved Bob Dole's life in Italy during WW2, has died in his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y. at the age of 84.

Forty years ago today, in a nationally televised ceremony, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act. While the immediate effect of the act was the registration of a quarter-million African American voters, more impressive is its enduring legacy: Today there are more than 16 million African American registered voters, 43 black members of Congress and thousands of minorities elected to state and local legislative offices throughout the country. Few pieces of legislation in U.S. history have had such a lasting and positive impact on our civic culture. As a young member of the House of Representatives,...

"Anyone who wants to understand me must first understand Russell, Kansas. It is my home, where my roots lie, and a constant source of strength. My father's view of the world as "stewers versus doers" registered early. From my neighbors, I learned to feel deeply for God, country and family. In Russell, I came to understand there are things worth living for, and, if need be, dying for. The Russell of my youth was not a place of wealth. Yet it was generous with the values that would shape my outlook and the compassion that would restore life's richness after...

In the current debate over judicial nominations, some commentators claim Republicans such as myself are misrepresenting history by suggesting the current filibuster tactics of the Democrats are unprecedented. These commentators cite the 1968 nomination of Abe Fortas to be chief justice of the United States as an example of how Republicans once attempted to block a judicial nomination on the Senate floor. I welcome the opportunity to respond to this claim, because the more Americans learn about the history of judicial nominations, the more they will realize how terribly off-track our confirmation process has become. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson...

...Today, many have still not fully accepted the state of Israel, and the Middle East remains troubled. Many governments are no more willing than before to grant freedom to their people. The slaughters orchestrated by Hitler and Stalin have given way to mass murder in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. Though many claim to have learned from the unparalleled horrors of the 20th century, it is often not evident. Sadly, we know there will be more genocides. Yet our victory was complete in its liberation of millions of Europeans...; in the validation of our nation's quest for freedom and full rights...

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union" . . . are getting restless and feel we are fighting an "insurgency" here in our own United States. The "power to the people" crowd, of this great country, are about to mount a full fledged war here at home if Congress doesn't get its act together. Oh, there won't be bloodshed likened to Valley Forge or Gettysburg, but there's a battle brewing nonetheless. We just might need to start over . . . perhaps another revolution. I feel one coming on. Where's George W . . . Washington...

Bob Dole says that amending the Senate's rules would be unnecessary if only Senate Democrats would forswear use of the filibuster. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Pete Du Pont recounts that many Democratic Senators have had a change of heart when it comes to the propriety of filibusters: "Other Democratic senators have had similar changes in belief: Joe Biden and Robert Byrd, Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and their erstwhile colleagues Lloyd Bentsen, and Tom Daschle have all vigorously opposed the use of the filibuster against judicial nominations. Mr. Schumer was for voting judicial...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Washington IN the coming weeks, we may witness a vote in the United States Senate that will define the 109th Congress for the ages. This vote will not be about war and peace, the economy or the threat from terrorism. It will focus instead on procedure: whether the Senate should amend its own rules to ensure that nominees to the federal bench can be confirmed by a simple majority vote. I have publicly urged caution in this matter. Amending the Senate rules over the objection of a substantial minority should be the option of last resort. I still...

Today, Bob Dole has an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times. In it he speaks about the state of the 109th congress and its importance in American politics now in the future. As a veteran of the decades in the United States Senate and a man who has come as close as possible to the oval office, without becoming President, his credentials are beyond reproach. Senator Dole speaks of the mutual self-restraint that has been observed by both parties throughout the history of this Nation. This restraint has been the key that has enabled the Senate to function and...

ashingtonIN the coming weeks, we may witness a vote in the United States Senate that will define the 109th Congress for the ages. This vote will not be about war and peace, the economy or the threat from terrorism. It will focus instead on procedure: whether the Senate should amend its own rules to ensure that nominees to the federal bench can be confirmed by a simple majority vote.I have publicly urged caution in this matter. Amending the Senate rules over the objection of a substantial minority should be the option of last resort. I still hold out hope that...

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp Interview After Words with Bob Dole C-SPAN Dole, Robert J., U.S. Senator (1969-1996), R-KS Atkinson, Rick, Author Former Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole will talk about his book One Soldier's Story: A Memoir, published by HarperCollins. The book is about his experience joining the Army in 1940's, and becoming a platoon leader at the age of 21. He was stationed with the 10th Mountain Division and was part of an attack on the Nazi army in the Alps of Northern Italy. During the battle he was hit in the upper back by enemy fire, which damaged his spinal cord....

Bob Dole just dissected/destroyed/left speechless NPR's Terri Gross during an interview about his new book. Dole graciously answered a couple political questions regarding Kerry and Dole's own remarks about the subject, while also stating that he was there to talk about his book and not politics. Gross wouldn't give in, so Dole then called out NPR, the NYT, the LAT, TWP as liberally biased news orgs, and fired back again when Gross was cutting him off to ask another question. She was at loss for words, and breathlessly announced she "now back to the book".

Dole Recounts War Experiences, Recovery and Recent Problems in New Book By John Hanna/ Associated Press Writer Apr 10, 2005 TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - He lay in the dirt for hours on Hill 913, drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to move or feel anything below his neck. Bob Dole's spinal cord was damaged, his right arm immobilized by the mortar, shell or machine gun blast - "whatever it was, I'll never know" - in the mountains of northern Italy less than a month before World War II ended in Europe. In his new book, "One Soldier's Story," the...

The sunlit third-floor physical therapy room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center is not for the faint of heart. A young woman sits on a stationary bike, her left leg severed at the knee, a crosshatch of stitches closing the wound. A thin young man with a spider web of facial scars sits quietly working with a therapist, his left arm a stump. Other amputees try out their artificial legs, balancing precariously on crutches. Here, the wounds of war are fresh — even for 81-year-old former Sen. Bob Dole, a World War II veteran who cheated death 60 years ago,...

GOODLAND, Kan. - Scientists say mammoth and camel bones unearthed in northwest Kansas that date back 12,200 years could be part of "one of the most important archaeological sites in North America." The bones, found last June in Sherman County near the Colorado border, were alongside a piece of stone that archaeologists say was the kind used in tools that humans once used to butcher animals. Archaeological geologist Rolfe Mandel of the Kansas Geological Survey said carbon-14 dating completed last week shows the bones are between 12,200 and 12,300 years old, which could mean humans lived on the Great Plains...

Last August, Edvard Munch’s famous masterpiece, “The Scream,” was stolen again. Armed gunmen took the painting from the Oslo Munch Museum in Norway. Saturday, the Democratic National Committee will elect former Governor Howard Dean as the Chairman of the DNC. Are these events connected? Sometimes, reality is its own parody. As the satirical website ScrappleFace.com reported this week, “Faced with the fact that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is the only person still seeking the chairmanship of the Democrat National Committee (DNC), the nine-member panel of elected officers announced today that it had posted the job on CareerBuilder.com, and would...

"Maybe John Dean’s alleged conversation between Bob Woodward and Len Downie occurred a few weeks ago, and is no longer relevant." Must be a joke...

When asked--yet again--about Deep Throat's identity yesterday in Austin, Bob Woodward replied: "When you know who it is, when that story's told, your reaction will be 'now I understand' (why the person wants anonymity). And so to answer that question would lead you down that trail, and that's something we're not anxious to do." Personally, after I first read All The President's Men, I came away with the impression that, if it had been a work of fiction, then--get this--the authors had written the character of Bob Dole in ways so as to subtly point to him as being Deep...